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we took a taxi to the port and unfortunately I did not get any pictures of embarkation because there were no lines, no wait and we immediately walked on the ship and Lido was open for lunch. Not crowded and lots of seating available. There was no self service due to embarkation (48 hours), but it was still very exciting and everything was very good!

For some reason the day of the week rugs just really tickled me... I love these!

Our cabin was already available so we dropped off our hand luggage first. We were very nervous about the cabin because we had a last minute upgrade from a Lanai to and aft balcony for only $49 per person, BUT...... it was a handicap room.

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We had late dining and a table for six. The first night only one other couple were there. Rae and Nancy boarded in Rotterdam I think and were staying on until Athens. THey were long established HAL cruisers and were a great asset helping us learn the little things about HAL.

The first night my husband was adamant I not take my DSLR to the dining room so I was stuck with just IPhone photos.

I had the coconut scallops, the pear cucumber and melon gazpacho (no photo) and eggplant cannelloni while DH had the Prime Rib of course!

There was no sail away because we were overnighting in Barcelona. The next day..

We wandered around a bit, but really just relaxed after the long trip over, the whirlwind tour of Barcelona, we needed a relaxing day as this 11 day cruise only had one sea day and that was toward the end of the trip.

The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp played in the Wajang theater at 1pm so we enjoyed popcorn and a movie.

Sail away was beautiful with music at the pool and great scenery.

Sitting on the balcony as Barcelona drifted out of site.

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Thursday night dinner we met our other table mates who had been very tired the night before and rested instead of coming to the MDR. I didn't get any photos Thursday night, not sure why... it's kinda hazy after happy hour!

Friday....

Our first port was Marseille. Since we had an all day tour planned tomorrow, today we wanted to just wander on our own, although I really wanted to see Aix en Provence again. We were going to share a cab with another couple, but they backed out just beforehand so we sucked it up and just paid for it all ourselves. Aix was amazing and well worth the trip again!

Cours Mirabeau

Bought some great pastries here:

Then wandered waaaay off the tourist path as we like to do. Got lost, had to use the dataplan on my cell phone so GPS could work and eventually we found directions but no until after we stumbled onto some kind of protest going on. THere were police EVERYWHERE and I did not take one photo as I didn't want to be mistaken for an activist. So we just went the other way and wandered some more.

We had a coffee (for me) and a hot chocolate for my non coffee drinking DH. Then found a great little plaza with a market. I just love european markets and the fresh food, the atmosphere and the people. 2 years ago I was at the market in Aix and bought a nice olive wood cutting board. Well, we found the same woman I bought from 2 years ago and bought a lot more this time!

We meet two sisters from San Francisco who had rented a place there for a few weeks. After they left, we met 2 younger woman who were looking for their mothers (the San Francisco ladies). Apparently the moms had ditched the daughters and took off on their own.

we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and ordered DH's favorite food - pizza!

Then we watched the waiter run next door the pizza place and bring it back to our table!

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We will be on the Rotterdam on Sunday. What are your impressions of the ship and crew? Thanks for your review!

I personally loved the mid size ship vs the mega ships. There were a few things that hit me wrong such as lido deck beverages. You often had to wait for coffee machine, the ice tea ran out, the ice ran out on one side, those were really annoying. The smaller ship was much easier to get around and the public spaces were very well laid out. There was always a quiet spot or a social place if you wanted to sit and meet new people. The dining room was a little slow, but then I think that is just cruising now. If you want more, you have to pay higher cruise fares such as on other lines I think HAL is a nice middle ground for price and service.

We constantly saw the officers around the ship and they were very personable. They went out of their way to engage you, several remembered our names and stopped to chat anytime they saw us. The food was good and a few items were exceptional. There were a couple of misses, but then again, nothing was a show stopper for me.

Orlando, the mix bartender was one of the most service oriented people we met. He worked very hard, but managed to make it all look effortless. We went out of our way to give him an extra tip at the end of the cruise.

The last day of the cruise I took extensive photos of the lido breakfast. I've never been a Lido fan, but HAL has changed that!

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This was the port DH wanted to see most. He is a HUGE car guy and often gets up in the middle of the night to watch Formula One races. I booked the ship's excursion for this day that included Nice, Eze, lunch and Monte Carlo.

Our first stop was Nice and another market so I was happy! I had done Nice and Eze before with my mom and most of the first part of the day was the same, but that was OK with me because I really love this area.

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At the recommendation of our dinner table mates, we tried the MDR for breakfast.

Menu

I did get the photos of the menus, then I ordered the Dutch Breakfast. when it arrived, it looked so good, I ate the whole thing before I thought about a photo. We were seating with a couple and their daughter for breakfast and they were a bit hard to deal with as they knew everything and conversation was strained, but we ate and then left to go see Ajaccio, Corsica.

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we looked long and hard at a 3 euro bottle of wine, but decided we didn't want to carry it around so we left the market and walked down the street, around the fort and to the beach.

DH officially put his toes in the water.

We sat at the seaside and nibbled on our treats from the market. As DH dried his feet, we ran into Rae and Nancy from our dinner table! We sat and chatted abit about who had seen what. THey had come from the opposite direction so we traded notes on what to see and each headed off the other direction.

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How much was the taxi from The Marseille port to Aix en Provence round trip?

The taxis are metered so it was slightly different each way, but just under 60 euros each way, 120 euros round trip which isn't so terribly bad if you have another couple to split the cost and you are on your own timetable.

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Today we are in Livorno and I hired Joe Banana to do a private tour with 3 other CC couples.

The driver met us at the dock and we were off!

We left in an 8 passenger van and I volunteered to sit front middle seat next to our driver.

The tour buses all stop on a pullout along the highway so people can take pictures. Instead, we stopped at a small roadside stand that sold gas, coffee and pastries. Sounds crazy but they were some wonderful pastries!

Were were the only tourists, it was a few locals, then several of the "army" guys showed up and Francesco (our guide) explained they were the equivalent of our airborne division. Anyway, they also stopped for coffee and pastries and we were a tight fit in the small shop, but everyone was friendly and accommodating. There didn't seem to be any order to the chaos, you just shouted out what you wanted and then told the other lady what you ordered once you wiggled your way to the register. They placed things on the counter and you grabbed what you ordered and tried to find one of the few seats. It was crazy but kinda fun at the same time. Great coffee and pastry.

We drove through back roads to a small village outside of town and stopped to take photos.

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I personally loved the mid size ship vs the mega ships. There were a few things that hit me wrong such as lido deck beverages. You often had to wait for coffee machine, the ice tea ran out, the ice ran out on one side, those were really annoying. The smaller ship was much easier to get around and the public spaces were very well laid out. There was always a quiet spot or a social place if you wanted to sit and meet new people. The dining room was a little slow, but then I think that is just cruising now. If you want more, you have to pay higher cruise fares such as on other lines I think HAL is a nice middle ground for price and service.

We constantly saw the officers around the ship and they were very personable. They went out of their way to engage you, several remembered our names and stopped to chat anytime they saw us. The food was good and a few items were exceptional. There were a couple of misses, but then again, nothing was a show stopper for me.

Orlando, the mix bartender was one of the most service oriented people we met. He worked very hard, but managed to make it all look effortless. We went out of our way to give him an extra tip at the end of the cruise.

The last day of the cruise I took extensive photos of the lido breakfast. I've never been a Lido fan, but HAL has changed that!

Thank you so much for your response. As I said, we will join the Rotterdam in Athens on Sunday for a 20 day cruise. I am trying to get my nerve up to write my first review!